First State Times

SENDS ALMOST $44 MILLION TO 55 MUNICIPALITIES

Using a secure process developed last year when the federal government sent American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) money to Delaware for its 55 non-county, non-metropolitan governments, the Office of the State Treasurer completed a second distribution to local municipalities to continue recovery efforts from the pandemic.

“The $43,956,383.61 we delivered over the past several days represents the second tranche of funds from ARPA for our local municipalities,” said Treasurer Davis.

As with the first ARPA distribution in June 2021, a dashboard on the State Treasurer’s website tracked the progress of the distribution process to Delaware’s 55 local municipalities. The dashboard can be found at de.gov/arpa.

“It became essential to get this money into the hands of the local decision makers as quickly as possible,” Treasurer Davis said. “I began advocating in early January 2021 for local municipalities to get the money directly from the U.S. Treasury, and not have them wait for distribution through the State like they waited for CARES Act money.”

Government officials must report annually on all of their funded projects, including descriptions, expenses, and status, but many local municipalities had questions about how the money could be used.

“Through our outreach, we realized many local municipalities lacked sufficient guidance with regard to meeting the requirements for the use of funds established by the federal government,” Treasurer Davis said. “As a result, we worked with the Governor’s office and the League of Local Governments to secure a centralized legal and compliance resource that local municipalities could use.”

The two-tranche distribution from the Office of the State Treasurer to Delaware’s local municipalities totals $87,912,767.23.

_{Source: https://news.delaware.gov/2022/06/27/arpa2/}